1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to systems and methods for wirelessly monitoring and controlling proppant usage in real time in a hydraulic fracturing operation.
2. Description of Related Art
Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing are two ways in which unconventional sources of hydrocarbons can be tapped to provide energy resources. Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations typically require powering numerous components in order to recover oil and gas resources from the ground. For example, pumps that inject fracking fluid down the wellbore, blenders that mix proppant into the fluid, cranes, wireline units, and many other components all must perform different functions in concert to carry out fracturing operations.
Fracturing operations are highly complex and involve pumping fracturing fluid at a high pressure to hydraulically fracture the reservoir rock in the well in order to form fractures and stimulate production of hydrocarbons. The formed fractures can then be used to access hydrocarbons that could not have been accessed with traditional oil & gas well techniques. The fracturing fluid that is pumped down into the well usually includes a proppant that is a solid particulate such as sand or ceramic beads. In many known fracking systems, proppant, such as sand, glass beads, ceramic material, bauxite, dry powders, rock salt, benzoic acid, fiber material, or cement plastics, is mixed with other materials and enhances the flow capacity of the fractures. The proppant props open the fractures and remains in the fractures after the end of the hydraulic fracturing operation.
The proppant is supplied to the blenders and mixers and then to the well through a proppant delivery system located at the wellsite. The proppant is usually stored in large containers that are heavy and are connected to conveyor belts which lead to other mixing equipment and finally into the wellbore, where the mixture is pumped into the reservoir. The containers usually are refilled at the site by trucks that come in and empty the proppant into them. Gates are controlled by the user to open and close the proppant containers. However, in this operational scenario operators of the hydraulic fracturing system need to be stationed outside at the containers using hydraulic valves, or a short range wireless remote control that is hand held for controls.
The operators report in to the datavan using a radio headset to communicate the container weights or fill levels. This is inconvenient and there are not always extra personnel available for the task. Also, having a worker walk over to the container to adjust the flow takes minutes, which is a long time to have to manually check the proppant level. Further there is airborne silica around the container, which can cause silicosis. Silicosis is lung fibrosis caused by inhalation of dust containing silica. Silica is usually found in the sand used as a proppant. Operators are also exposed to dangerous weather in extremely cold, hot, or hazardous environments. Also, operators would normally have to determine what container and how much to use manually, which can lead to operator error. The incorrect aggregate of proppant could be used by selecting the wrong container.
Another issue with the manual control of the containers is that when the gates controlling proppant flow from the containers are left open spilling product, this causes profit loss. It also causes environmental harm and there is a major safety concern. When a wrong container is open and the incorrect aggregate or proppant is sent out to be mixed with the fracturing slurry, it is hard to figure out what tank the proppant came from and can result in a violation of customer contract. There is also confusion that occurs at the pre-stage planning because operators are unsure what container is being used and how the containers are being scheduled for later use.
These and other problems with manually monitoring and controlling the proppant usage have been observed in the field.